Introduction
If projects are to be successful, they must have an accurate, reliable schedule.
A well-developed schedule with critical path integrity is an essential project management tool which significantly increases the chances of completing a project on-time and on-budget.
A poorly developed schedule, by comparison, may not highlight constraints or identify critical path activities making it difficult to manage trade-offs between time, cost and scope.
Due to increasing project complexity, lack of specialist knowledge and an increasing reliance on complicated planning software, determining the quality and reliability of a schedule can present a challenge for many organizations.
Lack of Specialist Knowledge
Planning and Scheduling is a demanding profession and requires excellent communication skills and problem-solving abilities, as well as a fundamental understanding of the project scope and objectives.
Planners are required to process large amounts of data from multiple and sometimes conflicting sources and must continually ensure the schedule reflects the status and future intent of the project.
As there is no recognized formal qualification in Planning & Scheduling, most planners receive little to no formal training and instead must rely on “on the job learning.”
This lack of formal training and knowledge can give rise to poor scheduling practices, where rules concerning the use of logic, constraints, resources, calendars, and durations are not followed.
This can lead to poorly developed schedules which may look good on paper but lack the necessary critical path integrity to be reliable and useful.
Unrealistic Expectations
Despite increases in scope and complexity, management frequently expects the next project to be delivered at a lower cost and in a shorter timeframe.
If this expectation is not managed, it can result in unrealistic schedules being produced, with too much work planned in parallel and little or no contingency.
Many organisations routinely assign cost contingency to a project, yet assign little or no schedule contingency.
Ultimately a schedule without contingency is doomed to failure.
Schedule Risk
All projects contain risk and uncertainty to some degree, but few organizations consider risk or uncertainty when developing a schedule.
We can blame the tools to a degree, as most popular planning software packages have significant limitations when it comes to dealing with risk and uncertainty.
Mainstream software packages such as Primavera and MS Project rely upon single point duration estimates and do not provide the capability of assigning durations as ranges.
As a result risk and uncertainty is often ignored when developing a schedule, which can lead to unrealistic or over-optimistic plans, built using the shortest possible durations rather than the most likely.
Schedule Quality
Over the last few years, there has been an acknowledgment within the industry that there needs to be greater scrutiny of schedules regarding quality and critical path integrity.
Indeed the DCMA 14-point assessment and the GAO Schedule Assessment Guide are examples of how the industry is moving towards standardized schedule quality assessments.
Schedule Analytics software tools such as “Acumen Fuse” are becoming more widely used to provide metric based schedule quality assessments.
The implementation of these assessments and the development and use of the analytical software is helping to define best practices within the industry and improve schedule quality.
Stakeholder Engagement
It is widely accepted that the people doing the work should be the ones to build the plan.
How can any of us be fully committed to the delivery of a plan we have had little to no input into?
Interactive planning sessions and last planner initiatives are increasingly being used to develop schedules with stakeholders in a collaborative, inclusive forum.
By leveraging the collective experience of a team, you not only end up with a credible plan but the process itself leads to a shared understanding of constraints, priorities, and interdependencies.
Schedule Risk Analysis
All projects contain risk and uncertainty; therefore, it seems only natural that we should want to measure, predict and mitigate schedule risk & uncertainty wherever possible.
That being said it is surprising how few projects carry out any form of Schedule Risk Analysis on their projects during the planning phase.
There are many reasons why Schedule risk analysis has not been widely adopted. There is the significant investment in software and training that is required, and also there are the inevitable bad experiences which occur when schedule quality is not verified before analysis, which can lead to a flawed or unreliable conclusion.
In cases where schedule risk analysis is performed it usually occurs after the schedule has been built and requires an interactive risk workshop with stakeholders to gather risk and uncertainty data.
This data can then be analyzed using specialist software such as Primavera Risk or Acumen Risk which produce risk probability curves and risk driver tables that can help to determine the level of risk & uncertainty within the Schedule and the most likely date for project completion.
Schedule risk analysis remains one of the most underutilised project management tools, and if done correctly it can identify the real critical path and highlight potential risks while mitigation is still possible.
Schedule Risk Analysis is also an effective way of managing expectations around planned completion dates and can be used with significant effect to defend time and cost contingency positions when challenged.
Conclusion
Time is money as the old saying goes and this is indeed the case where projects are concerned.
In recent years we have seen a shift in priorities with more emphasis placed on the schedule, via the introduction of new forms of contract (NEC3) and through clients placing a higher business priority on time of completion over the cost of completion.
Nowhere is this more evident than in the Bio & Pharma industry where minor delays to project completion can cost millions in lost revenue.
The need for better quality more reliable schedules is now more critical than ever, yet projects continue to underperform and miss targets.
To ensure a better schedule outcome schedule quality and reliability needs to improve, this can be accomplished by adhering to the following core principles:
- Schedules should be developed with full stakeholder engagement via interactive planning sessions.
- Schedule quality should be verified through the use of standardized metrics and specialist software.
- Schedule Risk & Uncertainty should be measured through a Quantitative Schedule Risk Analysis Simulation using specialist Software such as Primavera Risk or Acumen Risk.
- Appropriate schedule contingency should be determined through the risk analysis process and allocated / Built into the project execution schedule.
Adhering to these core principles will help to improve the quality and reliability of project schedules and provide a solid foundation for successful project delivery.